October is a transitional month at East Bay. After a summer of finding only
species that breed in the vicinity (Canada Goose, Mallard, Hooded Merganser), I
begin to see migrants.
I completed 6 surveys through the month.
By totaling counts of a given species and dividing that number by 6 (surveys),
I obtain an index of abundance. The number of surveys on which a species was
present is the "frequency."
Species IA f, notes
PBGR 1.3 (6) , =1996, which was highest I.A. in 4 years
HOGR 1.5 (4), previous Oct IA = 7.5, 3.6, 1.4, 0.4
WEGR 0.2 (1)
DCCO 1.8 (3), about average
CAGO 2.3 (2)
MALL 14.3 (5), this is a high for 5 years
SCAUP 0.3 (2), typical but 1993 IA was 3.5
BUFF 2.3 (3), previous high IA = 1.2
HOME 3.8 (4), previous high IA = 1.2
GBHE 0.8 (3), low
KILL 1.0 (3)
GRYE 0.8 (3), high
DUNL 0.2 (1)
BEKI 0.8 (4), 1 m, 1 m, 1 m, 2 m
CROW 23.0 (5), 2 high-tide counts = 0 and 3, 3 low-tide counts = 61, 6, and 34
MEGU 2.3 (5)
RBGU 1.7 (5)
GWGU/HYGU/UNGU/UBWG/OLGU? available upon request

Others on surveys included 2 Lapland Longspurs on the 6th, a coot on the 13th,
and 1 dowitcher sp. on the 27th and 30th. On the 25th I met a group of Stream
Team monitors at East Bay and we saw two species missing from my surveys--PECO
and SUSC (a female). No goldeneyes all month (still missing through 7 Nov; I
would expect Barrow's by now, Commons "should" arrive in early November).

Best of the month was an American White Pelican on the 19th (N. McClure) and
20th (M. Carmody, SR). The longspurs were my first for East Bay; thanks to M.
Price for cleverly clarifying the call notes.
--
Scott Richardson
northeast Seattle
salix at halcyon.com
http://www.halcyon.com/salix/swm_beki.htm (9 Nov)